1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an organic light emitting display and a driving method thereof, and more particular to an organic light emitting display and a driving method thereof, which may reduce the number of output lines in a data driver.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, various flat panel displays (FPD) capable of reducing weight and volume that are disadvantages of cathode ray tubes (CRT) have been developed. The FPDs include liquid crystal displays (LCD), field emission displays (FED), plasma display panels (PDP), and organic light emitting displays (OLED).
An organic light emitting display among flat display devices, displays an image using an organic light emitting diode that generates light by the recombination of electrons and holes. Such an organic light emitting display has advantages in that it has a high response speed, and operates in a low power consumption.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a conventional organic light emitting display. With reference to FIG. 1, the conventional organic light emitting display includes a pixel portion 30, a scan driver 10, a data driver 20, and a timing controller 50. The pixel portion 30 includes a plurality of pixels 40 formed at a crossing area of scan lines S1 to Sn and data lines D1 to Dm. The scan driver 10 drives the scan lines S1 to Sn. The data driver 20 drives the data lines D1 to Dm. The timing controller 50 controls the scan driver 10 and the data driver 20.
The scan driver 10 generates a scan signal in response to a scan drive control signal SCS from the timing controller 50, and sequentially provides the generated scan signal to the scan lines S1 to Sn. The scan driver 10 generates a light emitting control signal in response to the scan drive control signal SCS from the timing controller 50, and sequentially provides the generated light emitting control signal to the light emitting control lines E1 to En.
The data driver 20 receives the data drive control signal DCS from the timing controller 50. Upon the receipt of the data drive control signal DCS, the data driver 20 generates data signals, and provides the generated data signals to the data lines D1 to Dm. Here, the data driver 20 provides the generated data signals to the data lines D1 to Dm every horizontal period.
The timing controller 50 generates a data drive control signal DCS and a scan drive control signal SCS according to externally supplied synchronous signals. The data drive control signal DCS generated by the timing controller 50 is provided to the data driver 20, and the scan drive control signal SCS is provided to the scan driver 10. Furthermore, the timing controller 50 provides externally supplied data “Data” to the data driver 20.
The pixel portion 30 receives a first power supply ELVDD and a second power supply ELVSS from an exterior source, and provides them to respective pixels 40. Upon the receipt of the first power supply ELVDD and the second power supply ELVSS, the pixels 40 control the amount of a current into the second power supply ELVSS from the first power supply ELVDD through a organic light emitting diode corresponding to the data signal, thus generating light corresponding to the data signal. Furthermore, light emitting times of the pixels 40 are controlled by the light emitting control signals.
In the conventional organic light emitting display having the driving method, each of the pixels 40 is positioned at a crossing part of the scan lines S1 to Sn and the data lines D1 to Dm. Here, the data driver 20 includes m output lines for supplying a data signal to m data lines D1 to Dm. That is, in the conventional organic light emitting display, the data driver 20 include output lines as the same number of the data lines D1 to Dm. Accordingly, at least one data driving circuit is included inside of the data driver 20 in order to have m output lines therein, thereby incurring an increase in manufacturing cost. More particularly, as a resolution and a size of the pixel portion 30 are increased, the data driver 20 needs more output lines, thereby causing manufacturing cost to be increased.